President Donald Trump praised West Point on Monday for “smartly” canceling a ceremony to honor Tom Hanks that was planned for later in the month, calling the actor “destructive” and “WOKE.”
West Point planned to award Hanks for his advocacy for veterans and portrayal of service members in several of his projects — “Saving Private Ryan,” “Band of Brothers” and “Forrest Gump” among them.
He would have received the school’s Sylvanus Thayer Award, which is typically given to an “outstanding citizen” who did not attend the academy. Since its creation in the 1950s, the award’s honorees have included former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, along with journalist Tom Brokaw, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
Hanks has been critical of Trump. In February, he appeared on “Saturday Night Live” to play a racist Trump supporter who refused to shake the hand of Black cast member Keenan Thompson.
Retired Army Col. Mark Bieger, president and CEO of the West Point Association of Graduates, informed faculty Friday that the ceremony was canceled, according to The Washington Post. Bieger claimed that “this decision allows the Academy to continue its focus on its core mission of preparing cadets to lead, fight, and win as officers in the world’s most lethal force, the United States Army.”
